[jfisher]

I would like to ask if the food experts here would be so kind as to evaluate this dog food for me based on the ingredient list, which I must type out by hand because I cannot find it anywhere on the net to do a copy/paste. (Which is also why I have not yet done any research on it! It's nowhere to be found!)

The catch is, I would like to, for the time being, withhold the name and brand of the food because I would first like to hear opinions based solely on the ingredients. Yes, I realize that in many cases, you need to have a certain amount of trust in the manufacturer when it comes down to the precise quality of the ingredients used. However, I am quite interested to hear what you all think of this ingredient list because upon reading it several times, I would say it's a FAIRLY decent food. I am by no means an expert, and I also would say that there are certainly better foods available, but like I said, I am simply interested in hearing opinions in order to learn more myself.

I will reveal the name and brand of this food in a day's time for those who are curious.

Here is the list of ingredients copied right from the bag:

Chicken, chicken meal, brewer's rice, ground wheat, ground barley, corn gluten meal, chicken fat preserved with mixed tocopherols, dried beet pulp, carrots, natural flavors, peas, calcium carbonate, potassium chloride, brewer's dried yeast, dried egg product, salt, blueberry pomace, monocalcium phosphate, proteinated minerals (zinc, copper, manganese), choline chloride, zinc sulfate, vitamin E supplement, ferrous sulfate, L-ascorbyl-2-polyphosphate (source of vitamin C), zinc oxide, niacin, copper sulfate, vitamin A supplement, biotin, manganous oxide, calcium pantothenate, vitamin b12 supplement, thiamine mononitrate (source of vitamin b1), pyridoxine hydrochloride, (source of vitamin b6), menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of vitamin K activity), riboflavin supplement (source of vitamin b2), sodium selenite, calcium iodate, folic acid, vitamin d3 supplement, cobalt carbonate.

Crude Protein, min - 27.00%
Crude Fat, min - 18.00%
Crude Fiber, max - 4.00%
Moisture, max - 10.00%
Linoleic Acid, min - 3.50%



Again, I want to make it clear to everyone this is simply a learning experience...Like I said, I do feel that this food does have its weaknessess; I see some undesireables in there for certain dogs, and there are other better foods available. I am not feeding this food to my dogs. However, this is a lower priced food and it would be nice to be able to suggest this as an option for people I talk to who are unwilling to spend any more on a food, but I want to see their dog(s) on something not as awful as (in my opinion!) Alpo, Old Roy, or Kibbles & Bits. Especially if I could convince them to feed it with an added quality supplement that contained digestive enzymes. But I wouldnt make a suggestion like that without learning about it first, and that's the purpose of this post!

Thanks for reading, this should be interesting!

Here we go!

-Jackie

 

[AbbyK9]

Quote:However, this is a lower priced food and it would be nice to be able to suggest this as an option for people I talk to who are unwilling to spend any more on a food, but I want to see their dog(s) on something not as awful as (in my opinion!) Alpo, Old Roy, or Kibbles & Bits.

I really like the idea of putting together a list of lower priced food that you would feel good about recommending to people who maybe can't afford some of the really good grain free or organic foods that a lot of people on this board feed their dogs.

How about this one for the list?

Quoteeboned Lamb, Lamb Meal, Whole Ground Barley, Whole Ground Brown Rice, Oatmeal, Rye, Fish Meal, Whole Potatoes, Tomato Pomace, Sunflower Oil, Natural Flavor, Whole Carrots, Whole Sweet Potatoes, Blueberries, Cranberries, Flaxseed, Barley Grass, Dried Parsley, Alfalfa Meal, Kelp Meal, Taurine, L-Carnitine, L-Lysine, Glucosamine Hydrochloride, Yucca Schidigera Extract, Green Tea Extract, Turmeric, Garlic, Herring Oil, Fructooligosaccharides, Monooligosaccharides, Dried Chicory Root, Black Malted Barley, Oil of Rosemary, Vitamin A Supplement, Vitamin C, Vitamin E Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Beta Carotene, Calcium Ascorbate, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Niacin (Vitamin B3), Calcium Pantothenate (Vitamin B5), Riboflavin (Vitamin B2), Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B6), Thiamine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B1), Folic Acid, Biotin, Choline Chloride, Calcium Phosphate, Zinc Amino Acid Complex (source of Chelated Zinc), Iron Amino Acid Complex (source of Chelated Iron), Copper Amino Acid Complex (source of Chelated Copper), Manganese Amino Acid Complex (source of Chelated Manganese), Potassium Amino Acid Complex (source of Chelated Potassium), Cobalt Proteinate (source of Chelated Cobalt), Potassium Chloride, Sodium Selenite, Salt, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Bacillus subtilis, Bifidobacterium thermophilum, Bifidobacterium longum, Enterococcus faecium.

(It's one of the Blue Buffalo foods.)

 

[roxy84]

im no expert, but there are some good ingredients in there. i like that the first two are chicken and more importantly chicken meal. ive never seen that in the grocery store brands. there are a few things in there that i dont like to see.

however, if the goal is to offer a quality alternative compared to the likes of ol roy, beneful, alpo, kibbles & bits, etc...its no contest. id feed this food with no hesitation over the grocery store brands mentioned, even if it was more expensive.

 

[JenM66]

I personally have no problems with the food. Dried beet pulp is supposed to aid in digestion. The issue I'd have with feeding it is the barley only because Gracie is sensitive to barley (found it out by introducing a food with barley and got flaming red hot ears). The food that Chris listed is also great in my opinion due to the MOS and FOS which is important for small intestinal health. Again,the barley is an issue for my dog. We switched to a Blue Buffalo food and WHAMO red, hot, nasty ears. Good luck. You'll never get an arguement out of me with food. Just for fun....here are the ingredients in Gracie's food (remember it's a veterinary diet due to her having SIBO):

Corn Grits, Brewers Rice, Chicken By-Product Meal, Chicken, Fish Meal, Dried Beet Pulp, Chicken Flavor, Dried Egg Product, Chicken Fat (preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of Vitamin E), Brewers Dried Yeast, Calcium Carbonate, Potassium Chloride, Fructooligosaccharides, Monosodium Phosphate, Vitamins (Vitamin E Supplement, Ascorbic Acid, Vitamin A Acetate, Calcium Pantothenate, Biotin, Thiamine Mononitrate [source of Vitamin B1], Vitamin B12 Supplement, Niacin, Riboflavin Supplement [source of Vitamin B2], Inositol, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride [source of Vitamin B6], Vitamin D3 Supplement, Folic Acid), Fish Oil (preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of Vitamin E), Sodium Hexametaphosphate, Choline Chloride, Flax Meal, DL-Methionine, Minerals (Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Manganese Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Manganous Oxide, Potassium Iodide, Cobalt Carbonate), Ethoxyquin (a preservative), Rosemary Extract

min protein - 22%
min crude fiber - 4%
min crude fat - 9%
max moisture - 10%

 

[jfisher]

Thanks for the replies!

Glad to see I'm not the only one who thinks that this is an ok food. Yes, when it comes to <u>price</u>, this food is comparable with the "yuck" grocery store brands

such as Old Roy, Alpo, Dad's, Kibbles & Bits, etc. so again, I would MUCH rather see someone who is unwilling/unable to spend any more on dog food feed this food to their dog as opposed to the examples of the "yuck"

brands I listed. I would even venture to say I like this food better than some of the pet store brands, like a lot of the Purina foods or Science Diet. (Once again, this is MY opinion...I am not trying to tell anyone here what they should or shouldn't feed their dog...)

Some of the good points I feel this food does have are as follows:
Specific named meat (chicken), then specific named meat meal (chicken meal) as first and second ingredients, nice protein content of 27%, no by-products, no soy, does contain corn gluten meal but not as one of the first few ingredients, no artificial preservatives or colors from what I can tell, decent amount of antioxidants, fruit and veggie matter (carrots, peas, blueberry pomace...not great variety, but for a low priced food still a decent amount)

There are some additional ingredients I would rather see included in this food, and also some things I would rather see left out of the food but being that it's on the low end of the price scale, I realize how simply unreasonable it is to expect this food to be in the same league as say, Timberwolf or Innova or Wellness, etc. The main thing here for me is to be able to suggest this food as a similarly priced alternative to people who are feeding their dogs what the vast majority of us here would frankly consider to be crap...the equivalent of humans eating nothing but junk food and garbage, or worse.

While this may not be the best food, if I am able to convince someone to feed it instead of a complete crap food, it is worth it to me to know that their dog's quality of life is going to improve some. And that's what it's all about!

-Jackie

 

[mikaK9]

I wouldn't call myself an expert, but from everything I've read, I think you're right on the mark! It looks like a very reasonable food - not gonna be one of the very top ones, but a decent one for sure. For me the biggest things are avoiding by-products, animal digest, un-named meats, and grain-heavy kibbles, where the leading ingredients are all cheap grains. Other than that, the other stuff is smaller issues for me. I'd prefer to leave corn gluten meal out, along with salt and sugars that are unnecessary - but those are the smaller details. As long as you keep those big issues out of it, why not recommend it.

 

[3K9Mom]

Originally Posted By: roxy84im no expert, but there are some good ingredients in there. i like that the first two are chicken and more importantly chicken meal. ive never seen that in the grocery store brands. there are a few things in there that i dont like to see.

however, if the goal is to offer a quality alternative compared to the likes of ol roy, beneful, alpo, kibbles & bits, etc...its no contest. id feed this food with no hesitation over the grocery store brands mentioned, even if it was more expensive.

Exactly what Derek said. This is a little heavy on grains for my taste, but when cost is a factor, I'd be ok recommending it. Well, let me make that clear, I'd recommend it as long as someone knows what they're getting. If they think they're feeding a "chicken and rice" food to a dog with allergies, they're not. They're feeding a chicken and rice "recipe" or "formula" food (which means it has other ingredients highly suspected to cause allergies).

With regard to comparison to grocery store brands, I doubt they're cheaper. I'm betting that this food feeds at about 4-6 cups per day for the average GSD-sized dog, eh?

For these reasons, that's why owners need to read labels so carefully. But I'm ok with this food. It's not phenomenal. But the protein and fat levels are right about where I think the average "pet" dog's diet (getting sufficient, but not extreme exercise) should be. So it scores about a 5 on my 1-10 scale (which exists in a vacuum. Some dogs need a grain-laden food similar to this -- but I'd like to see different grains. To some dogs this food is toxic.) But in general, a solid 5.

 

[Myamom]

I bet this is Rachel Rays new food

I personally wouldn't use it due to the menadione sodium bisulfite complex and Corn gluten....but compared to the alternatives for someone that just isn't going to spend the money....it's much better.

 

[BlackGSD]

I don't think it is that great. Probably better than "Kibble 'N Bits" and similar foods but not much. It is also pretty high in fat for a kibble with grain. I bet most "Average Joe" dogs would be HOG fat in no time.

 

[EastGSD]

I would feed it

 

[jfisher]

Cherri,

Would you mind sharing a bit of detail telling me why you would feed it? I want to learn all I can.

Mary Ann,

Good guess, and you're on the right track but nope!

It's actually less expensive than the Rachel Ray food.


I will reveal the name of the food tonight (saturday)! This has been fun! I'm quite interested to find out if anyone changes their opinion once they find out the name and manufacturer...Thanks for the replies and if anyone else has any input on the food, please do share before I spoil the surprise tonight!

-Jackie

 

[melonyjhsn]

I think I know what it is Jackie and I'll bet you money that many will change their minds when they find out where it comes from. Starts with an M and made by a huge corporation. Don’t want to completely spoil your surprise though…

 

[JakodaCD OA]

I'm going to guess a Diamond product..
diane

 

[LisaT]

Originally Posted By: Ghostwolf......Here is the list of ingredients copied right from the bag:

Chicken, chicken meal, brewer's rice, ground wheat, ground barley, corn gluten meal, chicken fat preserved with mixed tocopherols, dried beet pulp, carrots, natural flavors, peas, calcium carbonate, potassium chloride, brewer's dried yeast, dried egg product, salt, blueberry pomace, .....

I would never feed it. It's got wheat, barley AND corn. If a dog doesn't start with a grain problem, over time I would bet that they would end up with one. In addition, most people here know that I wouldn't feed a food with corn products in it.

 

[MikeB06]

Jackie,

So what brand is it?

 

[DianaM]

I don't like it because of barley, wheat, corn (gluten, no less), and the menadione, but it's pretty good compared to a lot out there and for a dog without any digestive/skin/allergy problems with an owner on a budget, I'd suggest it but only after warning that a lot of dogs have corn, wheat, and barley issues and it is pretty high in grains. I'd feel better if it were ground corn over just the gluten, and I certainly would not feed it to any dog of mine.

So what's the brand?

 

[Fodder]

i just wanted add (in case no one else mentioned it)...

to keep in mind while explaining to your friend why this is the better food choice, that even if it is a pinch more expensive, their dog will likely have to be fed less of the new food which will in turn balance out the cost difference.

since i only use kibble to fill in the blanks when my dogs cant have raw, i like to shoot in between alpo/old roy and wellness/orijen by recommending canidae, chicken soup, kirkland, and natural balance.

 

[3K9Mom]

Camera, this is what I do as well. Many people can't afford premium foods. I aim for the foods I'd rate 7 or 8 out of 10, like those you mentioned. Unless, of course, I know they're really wealthy. Then I ask them for a loan to help me feed MY dog!

 

[jfisher]

Yeah I know, I'm a butt!

I had a few really hectic days after that last post, then I posted a few things yesterday that disappeared on me (no, really! I did!

), so I just had to send a message to admin to find out what's going on...

Anyway, Melony guessed it! Believe it or not, the food is made by...*duck and cover* WAL-MART!!! From what I understand, it's only available at some of the Walmart stores...It's called "Maxximum" (spelled that way) and that's why I wanted to originally omit the brand name...I was so surprised to find a food with an ingredient list that was somewhat better than a typical grocery store food, so I thought I'd see what everyone thought based only on the ingredients.

So how many people wanna change their answers?

I'm just kidding...Like I said in the beginning, I realize that part of trusting that a food is of good quality is trust in the manufacturer, and from what I know about the Walmart corporation... eek...

Again, sorry it took so long!

-Jackie

 

[jfisher]

Oh and I also wanted to add...

This is a very inexpensive food...So I think that if it's a case of a stubborn person who refuses to pay any more than the bare minimum for their dog's food, it would still be better for the dog to eat this "Maxximum" rather than Old Roy or Kibbles & Bits, right?

-Jackie


ETA: Oh, here's the link, though it really doesn't give much info...I think they need to work on it and maybe at LEAST INCLUDE THE INGREDIENTS!!!
http://walmart.triaddigital.com/enhancedrendercontent_ektid14650.aspx